Shoes Of The Week – Bestetti Gray Wholecuts

The nice thing about Riccardo Bestetti’s shoes is the fact that you can clearly see the defined lines that have been shaped by the lasting of the leather over the last. If not shaped properly during the making process these lines can be blurred into nothing, looking like the last was just some round blob. Granted, most makers have the skill to not let this happen but…..just saying. Now, the wholecut is the absolute hardest shoe to last, because you don’t have the give that is created by having multiple pieces of leather stitched together. It being one piece makes it much harder to shape and pull over the last without any air pockets being created, particularly on the outside of the bottom bit of lacing. But looking at these shoes, you see that it was done properly and every line of that last is represented here, from good making. Now aside from being beautifully shaped, I love the idea of a gray wholecut, much better than the black version that is so necessary in today’s society. But imagine if we let go of the idea of a black shoe being standard….how nice would it be to have gray be the new black? For me, it would be amazing!